SAN MARTIN
– Confessed impostor Frederick McGrew has not yet entered a plea
for a felony impersonation charge, but his defense lawyer has
suggested McGrew’s response might be
”
not guilty.
”
SAN MARTIN – Confessed impostor Frederick McGrew has not yet entered a plea for a felony impersonation charge, but his defense lawyer has suggested McGrew’s response might be “not guilty.”
In South County court Friday, attorney Sam Polverino described McGrew’s case as “defensible” before Judge Kenneth Shapero.
Afterward, Polverino said that “It takes more than impersonating somebody” to qualify for a violation of the law. For an impersonation to be criminal, a victim must be exposed to damage or liability.
Fred McGrew stands accused of posing as Larry McGrew, a former starting NFL linebacker with the New England Patriots, to get an assistant football coaching job at Gavilan College in Gilroy.
“Was there a liability to Mr. Lawrence McGrew? I don’t know,” Polverino told reporters.
McGrew also confessed to police that he had used a Social Security number not his own – one that belongs to an elderly, out-of-state woman – on his Gavilan employment forms. While Gilroy police gave McGrew a second impersonation count for this, prosecutors at present have only brought forward one charge, for impersonating Larry McGrew.
“Additional charges may occur, but we have to wait for the complete investigation,” Deputy District Attorney Mark Hood said this morning.
Judge Shapero postponed McGrew’s plea entry to Sept. 30.
In another development Friday, Shapero sent Frederick McGrew back to jail on $5,000 bail, despite the fact that McGrew had appeared in court as promised upon his release a week before. McGrew posted bail over the weekend.
Shapero said McGrew posed a flight risk because the court could not verify “substantial ties” McGrew has to this area. McGrew moved to California from Colorado seven weeks ago to begin work at Gavilan College.
Prosecutor Mark Hood gave Shapero three additional reasons why McGrew should return to jail:
• McGrew changed his residence in the week after his release without notifying the court. He is now “essentially a transient,” Hood said.
• The District Attorney has new information that McGrew may have pulled a prior hoax in Las Vegas using the Larry McGrew identity.
• Police have proved that McGrew was lying to the court on Sept. 12 when he said Larry McGrew is his uncle.
McGrew, against the advice of his attorney, publicly defended his local ties. He is maintaining a part-time job in San Jose, he said.
“I do have ties here,” McGrew said. “I work. I make too much money to leave. … I want to start a foundation here. … If I go to jail, I’m going to lose my job like I lost the last two (the Gavilan post and one other).”
Regarding his change of residence, McGrew said the media attention his case has attracted caused him to lose the El Cerrito Way address he had claimed upon his arrest. This publicity also made it hard to find another place, he said.
“Everywhere I went, somebody was hounding me,” McGrew told the court.
Polverino said McGrew’s new residence, in San Jose, has now been verified. While coaching, McGrew had lived in a Hecker Pass Road house owned by the college.
As to the Las Vegas accusation, Polverino said, “I’m not sure that’s been fully corroborated.”
Polverino may not be representing McGrew for long; Shapero has referred the former coach to the Public Defender’s Office. Polverino made a “special appearance” without pay on Friday, he said. He declined to say how he knew McGrew, saying only that he was referred to him.
Gavilan fired McGrew Sept. 9 – saying his coaching style clashed with that of Head Coach John Lango. Later that same day, college Athletic Director Ron Hannon reported suspicions about McGrew’s identity to Gilroy police. McGrew was arrested Sept. 10 and confessed to police that he had impersonated the pro linebacker and given Gavilan a Social Security number not his own.
McGrew told police he pretended to be the ex-pro to make himself more employable.
He said he falsified his Social Security number to prevent his ex-wife or ex-girlfriend (he varied on this point) from claiming his income for child support payments.
